August 21, 2015

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The Black Dog (10 years on) 8: SOME LITERARY COMPANIONS…

by quaesitor

William Nicholson wrote Shadowlands, the play (which became the film) inspired by C.S.Lewis’s extraordinary testimony A Grief Observed. In it, he gave Lewis this lovely line, one he never actually uttered, but may as well have done.

We read to know we’re not alone

After the last ten years, I find that’s true now more than ever. So I’ll tie this black dog series up with some printed companions for the cave.

van Gogh: A Novel Reader (1888)

My Top Tips

Spurgeon’s Sorrows by Zack Eswine: as I mentioned a few weeks ago, this is a book I’ve been longing for – it’s brief but hardly shallow – part-biography, part-testimony, part-theological reflection, part-pastoral manual, part-biblical meditation. It’s got it all. An absolute must-read.

I had a Black Dog by Matthew Johnstone (as well as its follow up written with his wife, Living with the Black Dog). I come back to these again and again, especially at times when I doubt the reality of my own experiences (such is the dog’s ability to distort that I regularly doubt its very existence, even at the darkest times).

[LATE ADDITION!] Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig: I loved Matt’s novel The Humans (which is a fantastic read) but couldn’t put my finger on why it resonated so much. Then I read this memoir and his battle with depression and suicidal feelings. It’s not the last word, perhaps, but boy, is it a tonic.

Balm and Solace

The Psalms of course stand out as a constant. But it’s interesting how often the spiritual reflections of our contemporaries really don’t seem to cut it as much as former divines when really down in the depths.